Update and procurement of telecom lines using automated reconciliation of device information

ABSTRACT

A system and method of performing automated reconciliation of devices and features in telecom expense management systems prior to running programs to optimize expense relative to usage or procuring new lines. The reconciliation accessing and carrier systems and devices and using enterprise configurable rules and live data from end point management systems. The system ensures accurate and up to date data is available for processing by downstream robotic process automation systems that perform the procurement/modification of plans and devices.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to systems and methods for procurement ofand updating telecom plans/devices by first reconciling devices andfeatures within telecom expense management systems. Telecom ExpenseManagement data is reconciled with Carrier systems and End pointmanagement systems for asset management. The system ensures accurate andup to date inventory data is available for processing by downstreamautomated procurement bots or other automation systems setup to placeprocurement or change orders. These automated systems are thus able tosuccessfully complete any required operations such as changing plans andprocuring devices or lines without getting blocked due to obsolete,missing, or inaccurate information.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The typical corporation's mobile asset use had progressively grown yearover year and an increasing number of departments and functions relyupon these devices and services for their day to day businessactivities. These include mobile phones, tablets, laptops, routers, andhubs, and associated accessories. A growing number of smart IoT devicesare also becoming part of the IT spend.

Devices that offer telecommunication services also incorporate voice anddata plans, which are sold separately, are unique to the serviceprovider and often unique to devices. These are an essential part of thedevice and vary from carrier to carrier. They are a primary way ofdifferentiating a carriers offerings.

These devices also incorporate optional features and functions which canbe added by service providers to enhance a devices capability and thusthe services provided. Examples include voicemail, conference calling,tethering, and more.

Large enterprise customers are often given the opportunity to furthertailor these plans and features to corporate specific plans throughnegotiations with the service provider. The result may be one or morecompany specific plans for employees from a given service provider thatmeets the expected needs in the most economical fashion.

In an increasingly connected world, it is no longer only the mobilephones, tablets or wireless routers that have voice and data plans, butan increasing number of IoT devices are also connected to the internetand require voice and data plans to send information to cloud basedsystems. This connected infrastructure also allows for updates andupgrades of such systems and in many cases even allows for remoteconfiguration or monitoring.

Voice and data plans associated with the many different device typeshave also become increasingly flexible and customized. Many candifferentiate between data types, applications, and time of day. Forexample, allowing certain types of data, such as video, after hours forfree or at reduced rates may be offered.

These voice and data plans are essential to get these devices connectedand operational. Devices must be configured with plans and activated tobecome connected to the outside networks and to be reached.

Once activated, service providers allow changing these voice and dataplans and features for active subscribers. There are often rules andregulations for doing so however, that may affect pricing andeligibility. These may well be based on carrier, device type and devicevintage, as well as the date of activation or the terms of theengagement.

To change any of these options requires that one have up to dateinformation about the device models and existing features that arecurrently provisioned and active. With accurate information about whatis currently active, the system knows what changes are possible and whenthey can be made at optimal or minimal cost.

Large enterprises with 1000s of employees, are likely to require dailychanges to the inventory of devices and related features. As the usersgoes about their business, roaming plans must be added for thosetravelling, devices are inevitably lost, broken, or stolen and must bereplaced. People change roles or departments, or job functions and toolschange and new plans must be put in place to adapt to the changingrequirements.

Many enterprises use a Telecom Expense Management (TEM) system to manageand track these ever evolving expenses. Some may outsource the whole TEMfunction to a service provider that provides access to a TEM system forits customers.

Such a TEM system can incorporate policies, establish spending limits,preestablish acceptable devices and plans as well as put a chain ofapproval in place for ordering. These systems may interact directly withcarrier systems though APIs (application programming interfaces) toplace orders and make changes.

When systems are not up to date however, incompatible plans andaccessories may be selected and ordered for devices. Upgrades that areallowable in the system do not work. Choices that are incompatible andout of policy with corporate guidelines are available in the systemleading to higher costs and confusion. Telecom orders are often timesensitive and placed to line up with business travel or upcoming events,thus the inability to have an accurate tracking of devices and plansinhibits the ability to modify telecom plans to achieve cost savings.These windows can be missed when additional steps are inserted andultimately desired changes or procurement can fail. Thus, withinaccurate data, adjustments or changes to telecommunications planswhich are desired may be determined based on incorrect data or worseyet, the attempt to change a plan on the basis of incorrect data mayresult in a rejection of that or may result in costs increasing due tothe discrepancy.

Fischer, in U.S. Pat. No. 8,712,878 describes a system for verifyinginvoices against errors, however, Fisher does not do any in-monthverification which would facilitate the enablement of automation systemstrying to process changes within a billing period from a TEM systemdoing procurement or a self-serve portal offering changes to end usersin real time.

Daidone, in U.S. Pat. No. 7,657,485 describes a system and method offinding errors and reconciling telecom expenses by looking at calldetail records but does not contemplate using those records to changetelecommunications plans.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

What is needed then is a system and method that can verify and reconcilelocal Telecom Expense Management Systems with one or more serviceprovider or carrier systems in-month and automate corrections to thesesystems in such a way as to allow for automated upgrades, orders, andchanges to take place when they run and be determined and executed basedon correct information to avoid rejections of plan changes orun-expected costs increases due to inaccurate information abouttelecommunications devices.

Of key importance is that the improved TEM system can identify actionswhere these upgrades, orders or changes (e.g. telecom plan changes) arerequested or about to run and the TEM system and its improved softwarewill verify/reconcile device information before the activity isaccomplished. This can be done by monitoring the various functions whichadd/drop devices/plans and features and possibly delaying implementationuntil verification and/or reconciliation/update to device information isdone.

What is also needed is a system and method of pulling data from thecarrier systems for the reconciliation through API interfaces or RPA(Robotic Process Automation) mechanisms so that this reconciled data canbe used in determining telecommunications plan changes.

What is also needed is a system and method of reading updates to a localTEM system that has logic which can automate decision making as towhether to apply the changes, override them or ignore them and then touse this information to determine and apply telecommunications planchanges with telecommunications providers.

Finally, what is also needed is a way of performing the above logic in acustomizable fashion that can adapt to a variety of changing customerneeds.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a system that canensure that the internal representation of the devices and features thatpeople have matches reality and matches the operator system and that theoperator system is in fact correct.

It is a further object to provide a system which automatically updatesto enable downstream automation of automated procurement bots and asystem which can handle error correction and provide for learning andimproving performance over time based on irregularities and how todetect and overcome them.

These and other objects are achieved by providing a system for automatedreconciliation which adjusts and reacts to discrepancies in a telecomexpense management and carrier systems so that plan/deviceadjustments/procurement can be made based on correct device informationand so that these plan adjustments can be made in a manner that does notviolate policies or otherwise get rejected due to incorrect deviceinformation inputs.

In one aspect a method of managing telecommunications devices includesproviding software executing on a computer, the software communicateswith a plurality of telecommunications devices, each telecommunicationsdevice having device information associated therewith in a data store,the device information including device identification information andinformation indicative of one or more telecommunications plans for eachtelecommunications device wherein the data store is separate from eachdata store of a plurality of telecommunications provider servers. Themethod further includes determining a time for an expected run of acomputer program which makes changes to telecommunications plans of oneor more of the plurality of devices to reduce costs based on measuredtelecommunications usage of the plurality of devices. Prior to the runtime and with the software, the method includes obtaining updated deviceinformation via a telecommunications network from each of said pluralityof telecommunications devices and updating data records in data storewith the updated device information such that the device information isup to date. After obtaining the updated device information, the methodincludes running the computer program to determine changes to thetelecommunications plans of the one or more of the plurality of devicesbased on the measured usage by using the device information which is upto date due to the obtaining step and the computer program modifying thetelecommunications plans of the one or more of the plurality of devicesby transmitting a request to at least one of the plurality of thetelecommunications provider servers.

In one aspect the computer program is part of the software. In anotheraspect the computer program executes on a second computer which isdifferent than the computer. In another aspect the computer programexecutes on the computer. In still another aspect the deviceidentification information indicative of group consisting of: deviceoperating system, IMEI number, MEI number, SIM card number andcombinations thereof. In yet another aspect, the updated deviceinformation is indicative of a change of device type for at least one ofthe plurality of telecommunications devices. In yet another aspect theupdated device information changes eligibility of that device for one ormore telecommunications plans available for the computer program toselect from. In still another aspect also prior to the run time and withthe software, the method includes obtaining updated device informationvia a telecommunications network from the telecommunications providerserver and comparing the updated device information from thetelecommunications provider server with the updated device informationfrom each of said plurality of telecommunications devices andreconciling the two to determine and make updates to the data records inthe data store.

In still other aspects a method managing telecommunications devicescomprises providing software executing on a computer which communicateswith a plurality of telecommunications provider servers which eachcommunicate with a group of a plurality of telecommunications devices.Each telecommunications device has device information associatedtherewith in a data store, the device information includes deviceidentification information and information indicative of one or moretelecommunications plans for each telecommunications device wherein thedata store is separate from each data store of the plurality oftelecommunications provider servers. The method further includesdetermining a time for an expected run of a computer program which makeschanges to telecommunications plans of one or more of the plurality oftelecommunications devices to reduce costs based on measuredtelecommunications usage of the plurality of devices. Prior to the runand with the software, the method includes obtaining updated deviceinformation via a telecommunications network from one or more of theplurality of telecommunications provider servers and updating datarecords in data store with the updated device information such that thedevice information is up to date. After obtaining the updated deviceinformation, the method further includes running the computer program todetermine changes to the telecommunications plans of the one or more ofthe plurality of devices by using the device information which is up todate due to the obtaining step and the computer program modifying thetelecommunications plans of the one or more of the plurality of devicesby transmitting a request to at least one of the plurality oftelecommunications provider servers.

In certain aspects the software obtains updated device information forone device from at least two data stores such that the updated deviceinformation from one of the two data stores conflicts with the updateddevice information from another of the two data stores. In still otheraspects the software delays transmission of device information to thecomputer program until update device information is received. In stillother aspects the device identification information indicative of groupconsisting of: device operating system, IMEI number, MEI number, SIMcard number and combinations thereof. In yet other aspects the updateddevice information is indicative of a change of device type for at leastone of the plurality of telecommunications devices. In yet other aspectsthe updated device information changes eligibility of that device forone or more telecommunications plans available for the computer programto select from.

In still other aspects a method of managing telecommunications devicesincludes providing software executing on a computer which identifies arequest to change or add a telecommunications plan for one or more of aplurality of telecommunications devices. The software upon receiving therequest communicates with one or more data stores over one or morenetworks. The data stores have telecommunications plan information anddevice information stored thereon. The device information includesdevice identification information indicative of device type and thetelecommunications plan information indicative of active lines. The datastores comprise data stores selected from the group consisting of: datastores which are part of the one or more of the plurality oftelecommunications devices, telecommunications provider data stores,user identification data stores and combinations thereof. The software,prior to transmitting a response to the request to change or add thetelecommunications plan, obtains updated device from the one or moredata stores and updating data records in a system data store with theupdated device information such that the device information is up todate. The method further includes, after obtaining the updated deviceinformation, running the computer program to determine changes oradditions the telecommunications plans of the one or more of theplurality of devices based on the updated device information in thesystem data store and the computer program modifying thetelecommunications plans of the one or more of the plurality of devicesby transmitting a request to at least one of a plurality oftelecommunications provider servers after obtaining said updated deviceinformation.

In one aspect the request to change or add a telecommunications plan isgenerated by a computer program which makes changes totelecommunications plans of one or more of the plurality oftelecommunications devices to reduce costs based on measuredtelecommunications usage of the plurality of devices. In other aspectsthe request to change or add a telecommunications plan is transmitted toa telecommunications provider server which is associated with thetelecommunications provider data store. In still other aspects useridentification data store is associated with a human resourcesidentification system computer. In still other aspects a request tochange or add a telecommunications plan is transmitted from aprocurement program to a telecommunications provider server for a newtelecommunications line. In yet other aspects the new telecommunicationsline is a data only line

Other aspects and features of the present invention will become apparentfrom consideration of the following description taken in conjunctionwith the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows a functional flow diagram of the present system and method.

FIG. 2 shows an overview of the various systems related toreconciliation used in FIG. 1 .

FIG. 3 shows a reconciliation flow chart of where error detection isdone and how it is corrected in the system of FIG. 1 .

FIG. 4 shows a reconciliation conflict resolution process used in thesystem of FIG. 1 .

FIG. 5 shows the setup of customer specific rule configuration and setupof the reconciliation system used in the system of FIG. 1 .

FIGS. 6 and 7 shows a sample configurable rule definitions table used inthe system of FIG. 1

FIG. 8 shows a high level flow chart overview of the device informationreconciliation process.

FIG. 9 shows a flow chart for how missing lines are identified andreconciled in that line is found in the TEM system store but not in thecarrier data.

FIG. 10 shows a flow chart of how conflicts of inactive lines in the TEMsystem are reconciled when identified/active in the carrier bill.

FIG. 11 shows a flow chart of how device information is reconciled whenthe TEM system store shows a different line owner than the carrier data.

FIG. 12 is a flow chart which shows how conflicts are resolved whenupgrade dates do not match between the TEM and carrier systems.

FIG. 13 shows a flow chart of how contract end date conflicts arereconciled.

FIG. 14 shows a flow chart of how SIM conflicts are resolved.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Referring now to the drawings, wherein like reference numerals designatecorresponding structure throughout the views. The following examples arepresented to further illustrate and explain the present invention andshould not be taken as limiting in any regard.

Referring to FIG. 1 , the TEM system 1000 is provided, typicallyexecuting on a computer which may include one or more computers such asnetworked servers and other processors. The TEM system includes a datastore with device information 1030 stored thereon. This data store maybe local to the servers/computers or may be networked or cloud based.The device information 1030 is used to determine changes to execute atthe carrier system 1060 (which is also referred to herein as thetelecommunications provider server). The TEM system includes the deviceinformation updater 300 software and the telecom plan update program 100which both use the device information 1030 in different ways.Specifically, the device information is used by the telecom plan updateprogram 100 in order to determine based on usage data 200 what changesshould be made at the various carrier systems 1060 to the active devices3000 and device orders 3020 (the active devices and device orders arestored as part of the Carrier Device information. The plan updater 100may determine plan changes need and then initiate the procurementprogram 104 to transmit requests 204 to implement those changes with theinformation updater 300 having run before those requests 204 aregenerated so that the requests 204 are generated based on correct deviceinformation 1030. The device information updater 300 will monitor whenthe telecom plan updater 100 runs and ensure that device information1030 is up to date before that happens. As for procurement softwareprograms 104, the updater 300 can intercept these functions and alsoseek updates prior to the requests 204 being transmitted to the carrier1060. Verification at the HRIS 500 can also be accomplished to confirmthe device information 1030 does not e.g. assign a line/plan to someonewho is no longer an employee or otherwise provide or not provide telecomplans/devices in accordance with company policy.

The device information updates can e.g. be from the API 202 for theCarrier device information 1031, via the MEMS 1050, the HRIS 500 orother systems described herein. The synchronization is completed priorto running processes to optimize or otherwise improve plan selectionamong devices as described in U.S. Ser. No. 16/587,966, the contents ofwhich are incorporated by reference herein or prior to provisioning newdevices/lines/services. Thus, the device information updater 300 willrun prior to procurement/change requests 204 and may intercept and delayinitiation of such requests to ensure the correct requests are madebased on correct data.

To simplify the provisioning and ordering of devices and modifyingtelecom plans based on usage, an improved a Telecom Expense Managementor TEM system 1000 is provided and allows for a standardized andnormalized way of ordering equipment and provisioning features within anorganization. While the underlying programmatical interface to thecarrier systems may vary greatly from carrier to carrier, from a userinterface perspective, the improved TEM system provides a uniform andconsistent experience minimizing training and simplifying operations.

TEM systems will typically interface with multiple carrier systems inany mid to large enterprise that has staff in multiple geographicregions. The system will therefore have to manage and deal withconflicts in each of these systems when reconciling its content.

Much of the data collection and resolution for purposes of modifyingtelecom plans and provisioning devices can be accomplished by theimproved telecom expense management system 1000. This improved systemwill recognize events which could trigger failures or problems ifincorrect device information is used and then intervene or halt/delaythe e.g. provisioning, plan selection/change or other activity untildevice information can be verified and reconciled across varioussystems. These are typically software systems which operate on variouscomputers/processors which is used to create and approve telecom relatedorders within an organization. This may be cloud based and may bemanaged by an external company to the organization actually using thetelecom resources. Typically, users will have access to such a systemthrough a self-service portal. It is used to order devices, features,and plans and to activate or deactivate lines. It will have build inbusiness rules and logic to allow for authorizations and approvals aswell as limit what users see to a subset of applicable corporatesanctioned options.

The telcom expense management system will interact with carrier systems1060 which can also be referred to as telecom provider servers/computerswhich are used to allow the devices to communicate over various networksand to bill for telecom related services. The data 1031 within thissystem reflects what the carrier records as valid and up to date datafor an account, including what devices users from a particular companyhave along with features and plans. It is used for billing by thecarrier. This system can be used to order equipment, options, andaccessories. It can also enable or disable features. In the context ofthis invention it is accessed by API 200 from the telecom expensemanagement system, although manual intervention may bypass this routeand involve direct changes which will later have to be reconciled andsynced up between systems.

The telecommunications expense management system 1000 will typicallyinclude a program 100 executing on a server/computer of the TEM systemwhich determines and procures changes to telecommunications plans forthe various devices 102 the TEM system 1000 manages. This program 100may also be described as an automated procurement bot which is a roboticsoftware which is related to the telecom expense management system inthat it runs as a robotic process automation to fulfil orders when theyare placed in the TEM system. This may be part of the TEM system 1000 asshown but may also be standalone in that it executes on e.g. separatecomputers/servers from the TEM system 1000 and communicates with the TEMsystem 1000 over a network.

The TEM system will also communicate with a mobile end point managementsystem (MEMS) 1050 (or the same may be considered part of the TEMsystem. The MEMS 1050 will interacts directly with devices and is ableto access certain live information about the devices as well as applypolicies including disabling and wiping a device in the case of loss ortheft, these systems are sometimes called UEM or MDM systems. A mobiledevice management or “MDM” will interact directly with devices and isable to access certain live information about the devices as well asapply policies and compliance including enforcement of role basedpolicies, and access controls, it is considered the equivalent or partof to a the mobile end point management system 1050. The MEMS/MDM issometimes called a unified endpoint management or “UEM” system whichinteracts directly with devices and is able to access certain liveinformation about the devices as well as apply policies and complianceincluding enforcement of role based policies, and access controls. Thedevice updater 300 can pull data both from the MDM/MEMS 1050 systemdirectly from the devices 102 and can also pull data via the carrierdevice information 1031 API 200 which will allow the carrier recordsrelated to active devices 3000 and device orders 3020 to be reconciledby the information updater 300. This reconciled information is stored inthe TEM system 1000 as device information 1030.

Data can also be pulled from human resources information system 500 or“HRIS” to help resolve conflicts. The HRIS will house information aboutemployee data such as organizations, titles, and positions which can beused to set and manage policies such as approvals, spending limits andplan changes/provisioning/decommissioning. The TEM systems are tied intoHuman Resource Information Systems or HRIS systems to automate processesfor new employees starting and getting them the appropriate equipmentneeded or giving them access to order it themselves. When employeesleave or are terminated, equipment is also deactivated or turned offautomatically avoiding lost equipment charges or ongoing charges forunused devices. Again, the updating of device information 1030 using theHRIS 500 data on employees can be used in connection with theverification of device 102 information and carrier device information1031 and can be used to resolve conflicts or discrepancies between thetwo.

Using the HRIS based hierarchies and having appropriate knowledge of theorganizational structure, rules for approvals are implemented. These mayvary by department, for example, sales departments may have roamingplans, and customer service may have unlimited plans. In somedepartments, managers or directors are required for approvals where inothers, employees can make changed directly. Management may allowthemselves higher cost devices and plans from typical employees. Theallowances may also be based on need or related to whether staff arerequired to meet clients, suppliers, or partners.

Specific TEM rules aside, once the required internal approvals are donethe system allows for the actual order placement and procurement for thefeatures or devices in question. However, as mentioned previously, whenthe procurement, provisioning or plan changes are to be run withincorrect device information, the robotic software which manages thesefunctions can fail. Worse, the robotic process software designed to makedecisions in an autonomous manner and expense saving manner can resultin increased expenses by making decisions based on the wrong deviceinformation. If for example, we do not have a record of the rightdevice, when the system goes to add an approved feature, plan oraccessory and then queries the carrier or operator system, it will notbe able to place the order as the selected and approved device, featureor accessory is not available for the device on the line which isactually active. For example, trying to add an Android specific plan toan iOS device will not or should not be permitted. Worse yet, the ordermay be placed and then the feature is added, charged for but notoperating correctly. In the case of an accessory, perhaps the wrongaccessory will arrive and be incompatible. This may even potentiallycause damage to incompatible equipment such as the wrong charger orcable. In the very least such issued cause frustration and delaysresulting in having to process returns and issue replacement orders.With the multitude of changes, it is only expected that some errors mayoccur. These can be data entry errors, omissions, processing delays, orany number of operational issues in processing the change requests.

Further, the system can get out of sync when people bypass the systemand go directly to the vendor and order devices on their own. Forexample if a device breaks over the weekend, the employees may getcreative and put their SIM into another device, or perhaps go directlyto the store front of the carrier demanding to upgrade or get areplacement unit.

Not only does this put the device inventory out of sync, potentialrefunds or insurance claims can be missed or expire without thecompanies' ability to retrieve these changes in a timely manner andapply the appropriate incentives, refunds which are available as arecourse to them.

Thus, the device information updater 300 can use access to a variety ofsystems to reconcile and check device information ensuring its accuracyand validity and timeliness. The device information updater 300 will beconfigured to know what information needs updating depending on whatprocesses are being run. For example, if a particular line is beingupgraded to a new phone, the system will look more towards tracking theorders, knowing expected timeframe to activation of the new device andthen using access to MEMS 1050 to verify device information 102 to checkthat the new (replacement) device has been activated. Thus, the deviceinformation updater software 300 will use a more targeted approachbecause the nature of the change or expected action is of relativelynarrow scope. This is in contrast to when e.g. an entire billingportfolio is being checked for optimal pooling of devices or selectionof plans. A billing portfolio can be considered a set of records for agiven customer over a given time-period. One such example couldencompass one carrier for one month such as a customer's SeptemberVerizon billing portfolio which would include all Verizon devices activefor the given month which are being reconciled. When the plan updateprogram 100 is going to be run at e.g. 3 days before the end of thebilling cycle at midnight, the device information updater 300 will rune.g. 6 hours in advance and perform updates on the device information1030 and preferably inform the updater program 100 that the informationupdate is complete. If not complete, the updater program 100 can bedelayed a certain amount of time. In this manner last minute telecomplan changes based on usage 200 can be implemented close to the end of abilling cycle but can be applied retroactively in order to maximizesavings and avoid a problem where the updater program 100 runs based onincorrect data, causing failures to update telecom plans as expected.Such failures could actually defeat the cost savings purposes of theupdater program 100.

Auto resolve rules can be implemented by the updater program 100 toapply sets of rules and/or seek additional device information from othersources to resolve discrepancies using both customizable andnon-customizable rules 302 that allow the system to automaticallyresolve issues with a known set of rules which may be customizable for aparticular business customer. When these changes are made to the deviceinformation in the TEM system a version history can be logged to providea historical record of activities performed within the TEM system,similar to an audit trail. For example, if user X logged in and deleteda device in the system, a log of this event can be seen in the versionhistory.

Things which may affect or cause discrepancies and requirereconciliation include Device upgrades, contract start and end dates,upgrade dates, plans, SIMs, options, plan changes, sim changes, lineassignments, cost centers, labels, number changes and new lines addedand lines removed. Each of these will be described below with thepotential impact along with situations that can lead to discrepanciesrequiring reconciliation

Device upgrades: When a user replaces the device on record with a neweror different model, this would affect the availability of plans andaccessories and features. For example, changing from an Apple devicerunning iOS to an Android phone would not support the same batteries,charging cables, cases, or other accessories tied to the physical natureof the device. Carriers also often have different SIMs across devicetypes rendering existing SIMS and identification data obsolete. Further,plans offered by carriers may be device or at least OS specific, and theporting of any existing plans across incompatible device types would notwork, requiring a new plan to be added instead. This is furtherexasperated by pooled plans where a device may affect a whole pool ofother devices if moved from in or out of the pool due to a change ofdevice type.

These discrepancies can occur when users go directly to the carrier whena device breaks or is lost. Another such situation may involve anemployee that is called on last minute business trip and wants to add aroaming plan before departure bypassing the usual systems in place usingthe TEM.

Contract start and end dates, and upgrade dates: These are importantdates as they determine when devices and plans are eligible for upgradesor changes. If an upgrade or change is made too early, penalties mayapply. If we wait, we miss out on a potential savings. These dates aretypically correct in the carrier system, but procurement exceptionevents can also affect these. For example, if a feature or device isordered but mistakenly remains unfulfilled, dates can get shifted.Similarly, if devices are updated manually such as when users go to thestore on their own, these events may not automatically be detectedimmediately. For example, if a user goes to the store on Saturday to geta replacement device but fails to notify the internal procurementdepartment, this may be detected with a Mobile End Point Managementsystem reconciliation before the end of the month, but the actual dateof when the device went into service may not be available.

Plan changes: Changes to plans are important to track as usage chargesare validated against the plan which is currently active. Further, insome cases devices that are in a pool plan may affect the whole pool ifthey are not properly accounted for in the set of pooled devices. Someplans may have eligible features for roaming which affect usage cost.Plans may also be enterprise specific, and have special conditions orlimitations based on the negotiated rates and terms

SIM changes: When changing from one carrier to another, a new SIM isinstalled on the device. With number portability, the same phone numbercan be reused however the reconciliation system must know to track thisdevice in the new carrier system going forward and must also track oldercharges in the former carrier system in the switch over month. Whenchanges are made in the middle of a billing period, two invoices fromtwo carriers may apply for that device. The system must also ensure thatthe previous carrier account/line is deactivated and no longer chargedafter the initial month, and that any termination fees are accounted forwhere applicable.

Another SIM change situation is when the same SIM is put into anotherdevice. This again can be a byproduct of a device falling into disrepairor failure and the user has a spare device or obtains another device.Once again, the new device information can be obtained via the MobileEnd Point Management system and verified. In some cases, this is atransient event as a spare device may be used for a short time while theoriginal device is repaired. In other cases, it may be followed withanother device change, if the failed device is replaced, and theoriginal temporary replacement is no longer needed. This will bedetected as a second SIM change, and all systems will be put into syncat that point.

Option changes: Change to options on a device can also occur which willaffect billing and invoicing. The current set of options also affectswhat is eligible for upgrades and changes. In some cases, options areincompatible with some plans and thus the plan and option data must bekept up to date. If options are enabled on incompatible plans the usermay be paying for features, they do not have access to.

Line assignments and cost center changes: These can be made whenemployees leave the company and their devices are reassigned, or whenemployees are promoted, change departments, or other organizationalstructure changes are made in the company. In many cases, companies havepolicies that vary by department, rank, or organization. These policieswill affect which devices and plans are authorized to whom. Labels arealso used for line entries and can be set to mimic the person a line isassigned to. This field can also be used to store other information pera customers requirements such as a supervisor, department, or group.

Number changes, lines added, and lines removed: Numbers are often usedto reference devices in the system and when phone number changes occurthe systems must track references to a given device accordingly. In somecases, a new line is assigned that happened to belong to an activeenterprise, leading to a frustrating amount of wrong number calls, inother cases when number portability is used, a temporary number may beassigned to a line while numbers are changed over. Any number of reasonscan result in someone wanting to change their phone number.

In cases where companies have outsourced the service of managing theirtelecom devices, there may still be cases where these customers may havetheir admins contact the carrier directly. As account owners, thecarrier will carry out their instructions. These may include sendingbulk upgrades to the carrier, changing a multitude of devices onto alarger plan for example. The customer may neglect to tell the outsourcedmanagement company about this change and thus the change will not bereflected in the telecom expense management system used.

In other cases, the customer may contact the outsourced managementcompany letting them know that devices were moved onto a certain planbut specify the wrong plan name. When reconciliation is attempted, thesystems do not match.

For billing to be accurate, the carrier systems which house the carriersviewpoint of the device inventory and features must be accurate.

The Telecom Expense Management systems will often limit options shown tothe user to reflect what is applicable to their situation. For example,if they can order only 2 types of devices, there is no need to show all20 available ones that the carrier offers only to have these rejectedwhen trying to approve them. Showing a long list with 18 of 20 listed as‘not allowed’ is also more likely to cause frustration and confusion intrying to find the options that are available. Therefore, these systemswill often only show the two that are selectable. Similarly, if a userhas an Android device and is looking for a roaming feature or plan,there is no need to list plans and features that apply to iPhones,iPads, and other devices, only those applicable to the device known tobe in use are displayed. For the Telecom Expense Management system toprovide the appropriate options to the user, the system must have anaccurate reflection of what the user has.

In general, assuming orders are placed through the TEM system, approvedand the orders in the carrier system are initiated, it would be expectedthat the system retain accurate information which matches the carriersystem. That said, as seen above many situations are possible that canlead to discrepancies.

In such cases, when the customer goes to activate a particular feature,the carrier system will reject the order because the feature may notapply to the device listed. If the user has an Android device, but thecarrier system says that they actually have a iOS device, any attempt toselect or add an Android specific plan will be rejected, despite havingmade its way through all the necessary approvals within the internalsystem. Now, the systems are out of sync, a pending order has not beenfulfilled, and a resyncing and likely a reordering of appropriate planswill be required.

When this procurement process is automated with an RPA (remote processautomation) robot, the process fails. Reconciliation of these systemskeeps the data up to date to ensure that the information is accurate andavoids changes to telecom plans being rejected or being requested on thebasis of incorrect device information, Below are some of the techniquesemployed to do reconciliation forming the invention at hand.

The system queries the carrier or vendor systems to reference a point intime. This is typically done via an API 202 and this forms one source oftruth, i.e. what the vendor system has on file, and likely what it willuse to bill from. When other methods fail to reconcile, this is usuallythe default position, however it can indeed be in error and actualsettings should be validated and verified where possible. In analternate methodology, the devices 102 themselves can be queried toconfirm device types and other device information. This can be done viathe MEMS 1050 system. In some cases, both the vendor system(telecommunication provider) and the devices can be queried and the datacan be reconciled both for conflicts and for matching in that thevendor/carrier system may not have all the same data as can be obtaineddirectly from the device.

A monthly bill or statement can also be used as a snapshot method forthose carrier or vendor systems that do not provide API 202 access toreal time data. This can be obtained via the carrier billing software404. Often, this will be taken from the vendor/carrier system. Theability to get live data from the system in real time is what allows forthe most accurate and thorough reconciliation.

The access to such carrier or vendor systems may be through APIs thatare offered by the vendor or may be build up using RPA Robotic ProcessAutomation scripts that are capable of accessing and navigating thecarrier system portal or user interface to obtain the data in real time.

Activities are also used to look at orders in process. For example, if anew ordering activity has occurred, the carrier system may reflect a newdevice although the device itself may have been shipped and notreceived. Even when received, the user may not have gotten around toswapping devices or activating the new device yet. Carriers oftenprovide grace periods for activation which the system uses beforeforcing any reconciliation. In an example such as this, the mismatch canbe ignored. The carrier provisioning/plan modification portal 406 canthus be accessed by the TEM system and more the procurement program 104.It is also understood that the telecom plan update program 100 cancommunicate with the provisioning/plan modification portal 406.

Version history, or a historical audit trail can also be used to trackactivities. For example, a missing line in one system may be reflectedby an audit trail showing an HRIS system reporting that an employee hasleft the company. The order to deactivate may not have gone to thecarrier system yet. Similarly, orders may have been placed for newdevices for people starting in the future, they may be received but notactivated. There are various ways these systems can get out of sync.

In another example, a new line may appear in one system that is notpresent in another. In such a case it may be the result of a numberchange, or it may be a new line that has been added. The reconciliationsystem can automatically verify records of number change information,and if the line is found, the discrepancy is ignored. If it is a newline in the carrier system, then the reconciliation system can add thisto the telecom expense management system.

In yet another example, say a line we expect to find is missing. In sucha case, reconciliation can check to see if there is a record of thatnumber being ported, or whether there is a pending order which has notbeen fulfilled, or if the line has been cancelled. Finding these recordswill help establish the appropriate path, but if the line is not foundand no record is found the reconciliation system can deactivate andremove this line in the telecom expense management system

If for example, we see that a change has taken place on the carriersystem, we can check the date that the change was active from and see ifthis data is more recent than the date in the internal system. Whilethis does not ensure accuracy, as changes may have been made in error, adiscrepancy can be used to trigger more in depth reconciliation effortssuch as going through the version history audit trail or the activitieslogs.

Checking the data with a Mobile End Point Management system 1050 in realtime to see what device is responding on the system is another approachused. Since the Mobile End Point Management system reads data directlyfrom the device, and a lot of device and SIM data is available from theMobile End Point Management system, this can be used as a good source oftruth by the updater 300.

In some cases, both the TEM system and the Carrier system may be wrong.There may be no discrepancy in data in the two systems but there canstill be an error. For example, a user has broken their device, but hadan old device of their own or borrowed one from a family member andsimply plugged in the SIM. In such a case, both the telecom expensemanagement system and the carrier system would show obsoleteinformation, despite both matching. In such cases, the Mobile End PointManagement system data also to compare what is found with the data inthe internal systems and this can be used to update carrier and TEM datastores.

Companies may have many lines on their account, typically for corporatedevices, all such devices appear on the corporate bill. In some cases,an employee may leave a company and decide to keep their phone number.Other mix-ups on accounts can also occur. But again, when making changesto a line, it is imperative to access the account and to find theappropriate line onto which we want to make these changes. If the line,and mobile phone number identifying the line is thought to be part of agiven account but not found, the changes cannot be made.

Device conflicts in identifiers such as the IMEI or MEID or Genericserial number can also occur, this can be due to a manual data entryerror or perhaps due to a manual change in the device. Should anemployee have a device failure in the evening or over the weekend, theymay opt to simply go to the carrier store to get a new device so thatthey can stay connected. This may not be reflected in the local system.

The live device information 2020 gathered via MEMS 1050 can include e.g.IMEI, MEID, operating system, device type/model, serial number asexamples etc.

Device models and how these are identified can also cause a problem. Forexample, color definitions (black, slate, matte black, etc.) may beimproperly identified as can device models. To properly make changes todevices, add accessories or features it is important that thedescription match in all relevant systems.

Typically, when all else fails to explain a change, the data in thecarrier system is considered accurate and updates are made to reflectthis in the TEM system with appropriate reporting to record the changes.

Mobile End Point Management systems or other asset management techniquescan dynamically query some fields from devices, making them a veryaccurate source of truth.

For example, a device model can be read from the API of such systemsleaving no room for doubt, where as an ordering system or even a billingsystem are only records of transactions that reflect a historical recordof events. The API queries the device directly and retrieves the actualmodel from the device itself. This method of querying third partysystems as part of the reconciliation is a powerful tool to get accurateand timely information as it can be done live.

Update/reconciliation processes may also vary from customer to customer,and even between carriers for the same customer depending on whatoptions the carrier offers, what systems the customer employs as well asthe customer policies.

To customize the automatic updates/reconciliation, a table-driven set ofrules may be created which can be customized by each customer. Thistable consists of each of the use cases in columns, such as ‘missingdevice’ or ‘unexpected device’ for example. Each possible situationrequiring reconciliation is placed in the columns. This is acomprehensive and exhaustive set of exceptions that can be handled byreconciliation.

The rows of the table reflect the customer and carrier combination. Aseach carrier may have different rules and timeframes, the way exceptionsare handled may vary between carriers. The same customer may also wantto react to exceptions differently on a per carrier basis. For example,if one carries has no charge for inactive lines, the customer may beless concerned about applying rules to turn these off.

Finally the content of the cell for each row/column combination in thetable has a value reflecting either 0 (zero), which means do NOT applyany rule, or 1 (one) to always apply a default rule, as setup in the TEMsystem for the given condition. Additionally, numbers greater than 1 areused to create custom rule sets.

A custom rule set is defined by a set of logical and numerical operatorswhich define the rule conditions of when to apply the rule. For example,logic such as ‘if variable name is EQUAL to constant’ or ‘if variablename is LESS THAN a second variable name’ etc. can be used.

Essentiall the table allows for the selective application of a givenrule set for a customer under a customizable set of conditions. Anynumber of conditions can be setup and applied using a numericaldefinition of the condition. For example, if we want a specific set ofconditions applied to a department or an individual, we would setup thelogical definition for the condition and add this value to the table.Each table entry may have more than one value so that the rule can beapplied when multiple conditions are met.

In essence the system is able to retrieve data from the carrier systemthough supplied APIs or RPA methods, and it is also able to see changesmade in a telecom expense management system as well as associatedactivities, or orders in progress and version histories or audit trans.The system can leverage end point management systems to get direct datafrom devices. It has automated reconciliation rules that can be appliedon a customer by customer basis taking organizational structure andpolicy into effect. All of this is uses to make decisions and performactions which make the TEM system accurately reflect the truerepresentation of who has what device, what features, and what plan andthat the carrier system matches this reality. By performing thisreconciliation of data, downstream TEM related RPAs which performprocurement work successfully without the need for manual intervention.

In one embodiment, the system accesses the companies account informationthrough a software portal provided by the carrier or service provider.Such portals are carrier specific and in companies having services withmany carriers, each of the carrier's systems are accessed to obtain thecarrier view of the data.

In another embodiment, the system interacts with the telecom expensemanagement system to keep up to date with internal orders that areplaced. This system should access and trigger orders in the carrierbilling system so as to actually place the orders requested by the usersin the appropriate carrier system using the appropriate calls andfunctions to access that specific carriers system.

In yet another embodiment, the system also interacts with an Mobile EndPoint Management system which has live access to the devices that aredeployed and the system validates the device information retrieved fromthe carrier system and the internal order system.

Turning to FIG. 2 , we see a telecom expense management system (1000)which is the main system from which internal employees would orderproducts within the company they work for. This ordering is likely donevia self-serve portal (1010) and requests would obtain any necessaryapprovals through an approval system (1020) which would interact withthe various parties such as managers and directors required to make thepurchase and upgrade decisions.

The Telecom expense management system (1000) is connected to a humanresources HRIS system (1040) where employee information (2010) is housedincluding roles, positions and corporate organization and policies.

The telecom expense management system (1000) maintains its own deviceinformation (1030) information about what devices, accessories,features, and plans are active for all employees. The device information(1030) includes the device inventory (2000) as well as the devicefeature (2002) inventory.

Further, when orders are placed through the self-service portal (1010)and approved via the approval system (1020), the Telecom expensemanagement system (1000) place orders directly with the appropriatecarrier systems (1060).

The Carrier systems (1060) are specific to a given carrier, and eachcarrier houses its own information consisting of at least the activedevices (3000) and any Device orders (3020). In this context,accessories, plans, and features are all contained in the informationfor Active devices (3000) and any device orders (3020). The carriersystem (1060) will separate and aggregate data from all devices for aparticular company into an invoice upon which these active devices(3000) would be listed with all the usual monthly charges based on theassociated features and plans.

The Reconciliation system (1100) system interacts with the telecomexpense management system (1000) employing a set of rules (1120) thatare customers specific and customizable (2030) and other reconciliationrules that are fixed (2040). It can also interact with a Mobile EndPoint Management system (1050) and interrogates these to ensure thedevice inventories (3000, 2000) are in synchronization. It also queriesthe Mobile End Point Management system (1050) to obtain live deviceinformation (2020) and ensures this matches what is reflected in each ofthe systems, namely the telecom expense management system (1000) deviceinformation (1030) Device inventory (2000) and the Carrier system (1060)active devices (3000) or device orders (3020) databases. Although thereconciliation system 1100 is shown separate from the TEM system 1000,it is understood that the reconciliation system software could executeon its own computer/server/processor or be part of the overall TEMsystem software executing on the TEM computer.

If the carrier system 1060 and TEM system 1000 are not insynchronization, the reconciliation system (1100) will update theappropriate database, namely the telecom expense management system(1000) device information (1030) Device inventory (2000) and the Carriersystem (1060) active devices (3000) or device orders (3020) databases byplacing orders or performing updates. Typically, this update is based onthe true settings obtained from the Mobile End Point Management system(1050) from the live devices (2020).

In rare circumstances, where live device data (2020) cannot be confirmedfrom the Mobile End Point Management System (1050), the reconciliationsystem (1100) will look at the dates when changes were made in eachsystem and look to re-issue orders or changes to ensure synchronizationis made and dates match. Failing this, manual intervention (1110) isrequested, and orders or updates must be made manually.

Turning now to FIG. 3 . We see a depiction of a high-levelreconciliation process. The reconciliation process is initiated byidentifying a plan change 2010. This plan change can be that there is aprocurement request for a new line. Another option for this identifiedplan change 2010 would be that the run time of the telecom plan updateprogram 100 is about to occur such that this program 100 is going to runat e.g. 11 pm 5 days before the end of the billing cycle. This program100 would determine if plan changes should be made for a device or groupof devices but would rely upon the device information 1030 beingaccurate. Thus, the identified plan change 2010 can cause the deviceinformation updater 300 to initiate the reconciliation process withenough time to be completed before the plan update program 100 runs. Theexemplary reconciliation process proceeds to look at records for eachcustomer (2020) but could also look at only a sub-set of records basedon what plan changes/procurement is happening. The reconciliation systemmay run for multiple customers, such as when a service if offered tocustomers to do procurement and this system is reconciled. Each of thelines for the customer is read (2030) and this can be one by one, perbatch or in their entirety as is most efficient. For each of the lines(2030) it is determined which carriers (2040) are active, and whichlines belong to which carrier. The lines for a particular carrier (2050)are now checked with what is in the telecom expense management system(1000) and the specific carrier system (1060)

Items that do not match are put into an exception list (2070). Again,these can be handled one by one or in batches for efficiency. For eachexception, we attempt to look up the device in the Mobile End PointManagement System (1050) to gather the relevant and availableinformation about the device.

If the UEM system does not match, then the local system, namely thetelecom expense management system (1000) is updated to reflect the UEM.

The specific rules (1120) for the customer being processed are read(2115) and are then processed accordingly. A few examples are shownbelow but these are fully configurable, They may entail authorizationlevels and other data that was read from the HRIS by the Telecom expensemanagement system (1000). For example, dates can be verified to see whatthe most recent change made was (2120). If the local copy the one thatis more up to date, an order is placed in the carrier system (2130) toreflect this change. This order may be done through automated or manualprocurement methods. It may be simply a ticket for someone to make aphone call, a trouble ticket email, or an automated API into an orderprocessing system.

If the carrier system (1060) is the most recent then the local system,namely the telecom expense management system (1000) is updated,

If any additional fields do not match, further reconciliation (2150) canis attempted (2155) which includes verification against the activitiesand version history files to find any pending orders or elements in suchaudit trails that may explain which actions let to a discrepancy

Finally, if unresolvable the rules table is verified and either thediscrepancy is ignored, or a manual intervention (2160) is made.Examples to ignore discrepancies can include devices that have beenshipped but are still within a grace period to be activated.

The steps above are not meant to be exhaustive and many morereconciliation fields are processed, this high-level flow is intended toprovide an overview of the process and methods involved in thereconciliation process,

Turning now to FIG. 4 we see some reconciliation conflict resolutionexamples. Reconciliation starts by reading (4000) the specificreconciliation rules for the given customer (1120) for a given portfoliobefore starting to process each line sequentially in this example(4010), The system checks to see if the line if found in the carriersystem (4020) as expected. If not, verification to see if there is anorder pending (4030) is made. If this line is pending, then the line isadded to the TEM, or telecom expense management system (4040). If not apending order, then we check to see if this number was ported (4050),this refers to phone number portability, where someone may change theirphone number. If this was a number port, then the new number is updatedin the TEM or telecom expense management system (4060. If neither ofthese cases is true, the line is removed from the telecom expensemanagement system (4070) and reconciliation ends for this line (4080).

If the line was found in the carrier system (4020) then the systemchecks to see if there are any device type or feature conflicts (4100).If so, the data from the Mobile End Point Management System is checked(4110) and the TEM updates with the actual device data read from theMobile End Point Management System (4130). Some exceptions may apply ifthere is a pending order. If the Mobile End Point Management System isnot able to retrieve the data, then a manual intervention (4120) isrequired, and a ticket created leading to the end of the reconciliationfor this line (4080)

If a date conflict (4200) exists, then other systems such as checkingthe invoice and carrier portal account dates (4210) is made. We thenmatch the local dates in the TEM with the carrier dates (4220) andupdate any upgrade eligibility dates in the TEM (4230) before finishingour reconciliation with a particular line (4080).

Turning now to FIG. 5 we see a customer configurable rule setup whererules are determined for a specific customer being provisioned forreconciliation.

The customer setup (5010) begins with the selection of the carriers(5020) that are used by the customer. This creates a default set ofrules (1120) which are written as customer specific rules (2030) bydefault, knowing what is configurable for those specific carriers.

The system then goes through the configurable set of parameters (5030)mapping knowledge of the HRIS system (5040) as pertaining to corporatehierarchy and organizational structures and how these affect the rules(1120). Further, if a UEM is employed by the company, the access (5050)is setup along with the available data that can be obtained from the UEMfor reconciliation purposes.

Rules such as date-based rules (5060), device and feature rules (5070),deactivation and idle time (5100) are configured to the company'spreferences. Access to any pending order queues or deactivation processqueues (5110) is granted so that discrepancies can be checked againstany pending changes that have already been provisioned in externalsystems

Finally, carrier specific rules (5120) based on carrier allowances andcorporate preferences are set and corporate polices (5130) areconfigured along with any ad-hoc labels that may be setup in thesystems. Example include setting a label for a department, owner, orgroup name.

Once these rules have been configured, the updated profile for thecustomer is written to the rules (112) database as a customer specificcustomization (2030). This complements any existing non-customizablerules (2040) which may be also set for reconciliation.

Turning now to FIG. 6 , we see a sample configuration table forcustomizable rules by customer (6000). The rows (6010) are a combinationof customer and carrier account. Example, a given customer may havethree carriers they use, each one will have a separate row as some rulesare carrier specific.

The columns (6020) are the individual rule sets. Some examples are showssuch as a missing line, an unrecognized line, a wrong device type etc.The list is not meant to be exhaustive and is simply shown as anexample.

Within each cell (6030) represented by a row (6010) and a column (6020)we see one or more values. These values in the cells (6030) representthe conditions to be met to apply the rule. For example, a 0 representsdo not apply the rule for the given condition. For example, a 0 for JoesFurniture Verizon for the Wrong Device Type rule means do not doanything if this occurs. A 1 represents apply the rule set under allconditions This means that every time the condition occurs, the ruleaction will take place.

Numbers larger than 1 are customized rule conditions create by thecustomer. They can be programmed using rules (6040) using a languagethat applied mathematical and logical operators to values and variables.For example, IF a variable X has a value of Y or if variable X is EQUALto another variable, THEN apply a given rule. Any number ofpossibilities can be programmed using such an approach allowing forcustomizable, automated reconciliation. Turning to FIG. 7 we see such acustomizable rule definition table (7000) where rows are the ruleidentifiers (7010) corresponding to the values in the cells (6030) inthe Rule definition table (6000) in FIG. 5 . The rule definition (7040)is the mathematical and logical definition when equates to a TRUE orFALSE condition determining whether to apply the reconciliation rule.

FIG. 8 shows a high level flow chart overview of the device informationreconciliation process. FIG. 9 shows a flow chart for how missing linesare identified and reconciled in that line is found in the TEM systemstore but not in the carrier data. FIG. 10 shows a flow chart of howconflicts of inactive lines in the TEM system are reconciled whenidentified/active in the carrier bill, FIG. 11 shows a flow chart of howdevice information is reconciled when the TEM system store shows adifferent line owner than the carrier data. FIG. 12 is a flow chartwhich shows how conflicts are resolved when upgrade dates do not matchbetween the TEM and carrier systems. FIG. 13 shows a flow chart of howcontract end date conflicts are reconciled. FIG. 14 shows a flow chartof how SIM conflicts are resolved. These are but a few non-limitingexamples of how device information is updated and conflicts arereconciled. For the avoidance of doubt, all of these processes areimplemented by the RPA computer program 300 which implements deviceinformation 1030 updates at the TEM system store.

While the invention is susceptible to various modifications, andalternative forms, specific examples thereof have been shown in thedrawings and are herein described in detail. Is should be understoodhowever that the invention is not to be limited to the particular formsor methods disclosed but to the contrary, the invention is to cover allmodifications, equivalents and alternatives falling within the scope ofthe disclosures and/or claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method of managing telecommunications devicescomprising: providing software executing on a computer, the softwarecommunicates with a plurality of telecommunications devices, eachtelecommunications device having device information associated therewithin a data store, the device information including device identificationinformation and information indicative of one or more telecommunicationsplans for each telecommunications device wherein the data store isseparate from each data store of a plurality of telecommunicationsprovider servers; determining a time for an expected run of a computerprogram which makes changes to telecommunications plans of one or moreof the plurality of devices to reduce costs based on measuredtelecommunications usage of the plurality of devices; prior to said runtime and with said software, obtaining updated device information via atelecommunications network from each of said plurality oftelecommunications devices and updating data records in data store withthe updated device information such that the device information is up todate; after obtaining said updated device information, running thecomputer program to determine changes to the telecommunications plans ofthe one or more of the plurality of devices based on the measured usageby using the device information which is up to date due to the obtainingstep and the computer program modifying the telecommunications plans ofthe one or more of the plurality of devices by transmitting a request toat least one of the plurality of the telecommunications providerservers.
 2. The method of claim 1 wherein the computer program is partof the software.
 3. The method of claim 1 wherein the computer programexecutes on a second computer which is different than the computer. 4.The method of claim 1 wherein the computer program executes on thecomputer.
 5. The method of claim 1 wherein the device identificationinformation indicative of group consisting of: device operating system,IMEI number, MEI number, SIM card number and combinations thereof. 6.The method of claim 1 wherein the updated device information isindicative of a change of device type for at least one of the pluralityof telecommunications devices.
 7. The method of claim 1 wherein theupdated device information changes eligibility of that device for one ormore telecommunications plans available for the computer program toselect from.
 8. The method of claim 1 further comprising: also prior tosaid run time and with said software, obtaining updated deviceinformation via a telecommunications network from the telecommunicationsprovider server and comparing the updated device information from thetelecommunications provider server with the updated device informationfrom each of said plurality of telecommunications devices andreconciling the two to determine and make updates to the data records inthe data store.
 9. A method of managing telecommunications devicescomprising: providing software executing on a computer whichcommunicates with a plurality of telecommunications provider serverswhich each communicate with a group of a plurality of telecommunicationsdevices, each telecommunications device having device informationassociated therewith in a data store, the device information includingdevice identification information and information indicative of one ormore telecommunications plans for each telecommunications device whereinthe data store is separate from each data store of the plurality oftelecommunications provider servers; determining a time for an expectedrun of a computer program which makes changes to telecommunicationsplans of one or more of the plurality of telecommunications devices toreduce costs based on measured telecommunications usage of the pluralityof devices; prior to said expected run and with said software, obtainingupdated device information via a telecommunications network from one ormore of the plurality of telecommunications provider servers andupdating data records in data store with the updated device informationsuch that the device information is up to date; after obtaining saidupdated device information, running the computer program to determinechanges to the telecommunications plans of the one or more of theplurality of devices by using the device information which is up to datedue to the obtaining step and the computer program modifying thetelecommunications plans of the one or more of the plurality of devicesby transmitting a request to at least one of the plurality oftelecommunications provider servers.
 10. The method of claim 9 whereinsaid software obtains updated device information for one device from atleast two data stores such that the updated device information from oneof the two data stores conflicts with the updated device informationfrom another of the two data stores.
 11. The method of claim 9 whereinsaid software delays transmission of device information to the computerprogram until update device information is received.
 12. The method ofclaim 9 wherein the device identification information indicative ofgroup consisting of: device operating system, IMEI number, MEI number,SIM card number and combinations thereof.
 13. The method of claim 9wherein the updated device information is indicative of a change ofdevice type for at least one of the plurality of telecommunicationsdevices.
 14. The method of claim 9 wherein the updated deviceinformation changes eligibility of that device for one or moretelecommunications plans available for the computer program to selectfrom.
 15. A method of managing telecommunications devices comprising:providing software executing on a computer which identifies a request tochange or add a telecommunications plan for one or more of a pluralityof telecommunications devices; said software upon receiving the requestcommunicates with one or more data stores over one or more networks, thedata stores having telecommunications plan information and deviceinformation stored thereon, the device information including deviceidentification information indicative of device type and thetelecommunications plan information indicative of active lines whereinthe data stores comprise data stores selected from the group consistingof: data stores which are part of the one or more of the plurality oftelecommunications devices, telecommunications provider data stores,user identification data stores and combinations thereof; said software,prior to transmitting a response to said request to change or add thetelecommunications plan, obtaining updated device from the one or moredata stores and updating data records in a system data store with theupdated device information such that the device information is up todate; after obtaining said updated device information, running thecomputer program to determine changes or additions thetelecommunications plans of the one or more of the plurality of devicesbased on the updated device information in the system data store and thecomputer program modifying the telecommunications plans of the one ormore of the plurality of devices by transmitting a request to at leastone of a plurality of telecommunications provider servers afterobtaining said updated device information.
 16. The method of claim 15wherein said request to change or add a telecommunications plan isgenerated by a computer program which makes changes totelecommunications plans of one or more of the plurality oftelecommunications devices to reduce costs based on measuredtelecommunications usage of the plurality of devices.
 17. The method ofclaim 16 wherein said request to change or add a telecommunications planis transmitted to a telecommunications provider server which isassociated with the telecommunications provider data store.
 18. Themethod of claim 15 wherein the user identification data store isassociated with a human resources identification system computer. 19.The method of claim 15 further comprising a request to change or add atelecommunications plan is transmitted from a procurement program to atelecommunications provider server for a new telecommunications line.20. The method of claim 19 wherein the new telecommunications line is adata only line.